Issue #454
Date posted on December 10, 2021
THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER IN SOLIDARITY with Indigenous Peoples is celebrated this Sunday, December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. The 2021 Message for the day, drafted and approved by the Catholic Indigenous Council can be read here and on our website. Additionally, the apology issued to Indigenous Peoples by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is now featured in a YouTube video here.
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Issue #453
Date posted on December 3, 2021
ST. JOSEPH’S HEALTH CENTRE, GUELPH celebrates 160 years of compassion care and courage – a long history of serving the community. The mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph was honoured last week at an exhibit of artifacts from their archives and from the Guelph Civic Museum. And it all began with a courageous Nun with 50 cents in her pocket and a hankering to care for the sick! What a blessing!
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Issue #452
Date posted on November 26, 2021
THE DEDICATION OF ST. BENEDICT CHURCH IN MILTON will take place this Sunday, November 28th, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Father Jim Petrie, Pastor, is preparing for the event. While COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, the size of church will allow for significant attendance at the event. Welcome to Peterborough Bishop Daniel Miehm, the founding Pastor of the Parish. With Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Lobsinger, he will have the unique privilege of anointing the walls of the beautiful building. Congratulations and thanks to Father Petrie, the Building Committee, the architect and builders. The “green technology” makes it one of the few churches in the country that can “contribute” to the grid!
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Issue #451
Date posted on November 19, 2021
WELCOME TO GERALD CYPRIEN CARDINAL LACROIX, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, who will confer Papal Honours on 1 Priest and 14 Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Hamilton at a ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King on Sunday afternoon, Feast of Christ the King. The honours were to have been conferred last year, and were postponed to earlier this year, and postponed again to Sunday! Congratulations to the honourees: Reverend Monsignor Martin Vallely (Chaplain of His Holiness), Chancellor for Temporal Affairs, James Long (Knight Commander – with star – of Saint Gregory the Great), Vince Varga and Allan Beaupre (Knights of St. Gregory the Great), Dao Hoang Pham, Barbara Dollak, Sharon Fazari, Martha Fauteux, and Marcel Levesque (Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross), Dominic Tersigni, Mario Bilich, Ankica Juraj, Martin Seregelyes, Rocco Valeri and Josie Cruz (Benemerenti Medal). All have contributed to the life of the Diocese and their Parishes in significant ways. Profound thanks and warm congratulations!
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Issue #450
Date posted on November 5, 2021
THE OFFICE FOR EVANGELIZATION AND CATECHESIS is celebrating the Diocesan Day of Prayer for Youth and Young Adults at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Hamilton on November 21, 2021 beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Holy Father’s Message for the 2021 World Youth Day is available here. Young adults (ages 18-35) can register for the Diocesan event here. This spiritual pilgrimage is a long-range preparation for World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon.
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Issue #449
Date posted on October 29, 2021
POPE FRANCIS HAS ACCEPTED THE INVITATION of the Bishops of Canada to visit the Church in Canada in the context of a pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation with our Indigenous sisters and brothers. The statement of the Holy Father was published on the Vatican News website. While no date has been established for the visit, it will build on three years of constructive dialogue between the Canadian Bishops, the Holy See, and Indigenous Peoples who have generously shared their experiences and stories about the sufferings and challenges that continue to this day. The delegation of Indigenous Peoples and Bishops to the Vatican in December will allow the Pope to hear directly from Indigenous people on the historic and ongoing legacy of Residential Schools, and discuss with them their hopes for the visit in service of ongoing reconciliation.
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Issue #448
Date posted on October 22, 2021
THE AMORIS LAETITIA YEAR of the Family was opened earlier this year by Pope Francis. A Pastoral Letter to the Diocese of Hamilton, dated today, was sent to Pastors and Parishes earlier this week for distribution to parishioners. Today is the Feast Day of Saint John Paul II, an appropriate day for such a letter. The sainted Pope was a great advocate of the family; he published Familiaris Consortio, which Amoris Laetitia draws from, and he wrote Theology of the Body. Many of his works relate to the importance of marriage and family!
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Issue #447
Date posted on October 15, 2021
THE OPENING OF THE SYNODAL PATH in preparation for the 2023 Synod took place last Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The homily of Pope Francis set out his hopes and expectations for the Synod: “Celebrating a Synod means walking on the same road, walking together. Let us look at Jesus. First, he encounters the rich man on the road; he then listens to his questions, and finally he helps him discern what he must do to inherit eternal life. Encounter, listen and discern. I would like to reflect on these three verbs that characterize the Synod.” Read the entire homily here. The Diocesan celebration for the beginning of the Synodal Path will take place at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King on Sunday, at the 4:00 p.m. Mass. In the coming weeks the Diocesan Synod Committee will send to our Parishes, Catholic organizations, and other groups and institutions an outline of the process the Diocese will follow to encourage the broadest possible participation in the consultation leading up to the Synod. We pray for God’s blessing on this important initiative of Pope Francis, and our Diocesan response.
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Issue #446
Date posted on October 8, 2021
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH, KITCHENER marked the 60th Anniversary of the construction of its church with a special Mass of Thanksgiving. A procession outdoors followed, where a new and animated statue of the Saint joyfully praising God for creation has been erected! Timothy Schmaltz, the world-renowned artist who created the statue, was present for the blessing. Many Priests from the Congregation of the Resurrection, who have pastored the Parish from its establishment, were present for the gathering. Again, we offer our thanks and our congratulations.
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Issue #445
Date posted on October 1, 2021
POPE FRANCIS HAS ANNOUNCED that the next Synod of Bishops will take place in October 2023. The theme for the Synod is: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. It will be the culmination of a “three-year path” involving the People of God at every level of the Church. Pope Francis will officially inaugurate the event on the weekend of October 9-10. The first phase of the synodal path will take place in each Diocese beginning on the weekend of October 17th, under the leadership of the Bishop. This will be marked in the Sunday liturgies in all our parishes, and most particularly at the 4 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King. A Synod Committee has been established composed of David and Linda Dayler (chairpersons), Paula Dawson, Bishop Wayne Lobsinger and Monsignor Kroetsch. They will facilitate the synodal process so that as many parishioners as are interested in participating can be engaged. More information will be provided as the process gets underway.
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Issue #444
Date posted on September 24, 2021
THE FIRST NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION is September 30th. It is a federal statutory holiday enacted by Parliament on June 3rd, of this year. Commemoration of the painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. On September 30th, Masses will be offered in our Parishes to pray that the truth of residential schools be heard and for healing and reconciliation.
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Issue #443
Date posted on September 17, 2021
THE THIRD ANNUAL NATIONAL CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE WEEK runs from Sunday, October 3rd to Saturday, October 9th. Established by the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, this year’s celebration seeks to build understanding, connection and trust about the organization’s mission and contribution to the pandemic response in Canada. Through stories, reflection and prayer, the week also seeks to foster healing, and to advance Catholic health care’s commitment to social justice and the values of inclusiveness and compassion in the spirit of reconciliation. In the Diocese of Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Health System embodies these fundamental values! How blessed are we! This year, more than ever, we must celebrate the importance of healthcare in our community.
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